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[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I wonder if any of you have any experiences of using anti anxiety meds during your menopause?

I understand that women who can't or don't want to take HRT have used them to help with panic attacks and I wondered how helpful they were. My GP prescribed Diazepam for me ages ago but I've never had the courage to use it as I was hoping my HRT would deal with my anxiety.

Any opinions gratefully received and I'm sure many other visitors to the forum would be interested as well.

Take care all.

K.

[CLKD]

Yep.

For years prior to menopause.    I have had anxiety since age 3.  Struggled++ [long story short].  I had Valium 10mg in the morning for 3 days prior to getting wed  in the 1970s.

When in the 1990s I was unable to cope my GP gave me 5mg Valium on an as-necessary basis.  I took a tablet the evening B4 any Events that I was unable to get out of i.e. visiting family  .   OK so I felt a bit hung over but at least I didn't get panic attacks.  I knew that I could take 5mg x 3 times a day but never required that much.

After many years it made me feel woozy which rather defeated the object  .  In 200? my GP prescribed 80mg Propranolol, a Beta-blocka.  Helps stop anxiety surges.  After 3 weeks it was dropped to 40mg at night.  When (about 5 years ago) I began to have background morning headaches I dropped it to 20mg night and at breakfast.  Now I take 20mg at night.  I also have an emergency anti-anxiety tablet [name escapes me begins with a 'L' ] to take as soon as I go into panic mode.  I used to wait to see whether the feelings would pass but they rarely do so now I swallow it immediately.

I know that any of the above works for me so I have no fear of getting reliant on them.  Whatever: without them I wouldn't be here.

I have also found helpful : relaxation therapy - I had tapes to listen too, teaching correct breathing.  I would sit down with a  on my lap and we would sleep  .  The idea was to learn the therapy and practice ........... music has over the years been of use.  As has walking, well away from people.

Knowing what triggers the anxiety might be of use.  Some ladies find that HRT is enough to ease symptoms, others require that as well as AAs. 

Remember: treat the symptoms if you can't tackle the causation.  Also, nothing needs to be taken forever.  For me, I have to take a low dose of anti-depressant for Life ...........

[Milamam]

CLKD, 

[CLKD]

You are welcome.  I've been to Hell and back  .  But a loving husband and supportive GP who wouldn't give up ............

I have to not take on too much at once too!

[Conolly]

Hello again Kathleen,


I had the dreadful perimenopausal anxiety leaving me awake at 3-4 am to intrusive thoughts and feelings of impending doom. I didn't take any medication though.  Mindfulness helped a lot. I had family issues going on as well, so being able to relieve my brain from the anxiety for half an hour every day helped me get a different perspective on my reaction to daily life challenges. The health/hormonal/family issues were feeding the anxiety, which in turn was feeding the issues, making them look worse than they were. Dreadful vicious cycle.


Hopefully you will find a way to get rid of it soon. Needs must, don't hesitate to take the medication, though. They help calm things down by breaking the vicious cycle.


Best wishes,
Conolly X

[Hurdity]

Hi Kathleen

Sorry to hear about your ongoing anxiety and I know you have struggeld with trying to find the right HRT - but I wouldn't touch diazepam with a barge-pole unless you are severely debilitated without it. It is well-known to be addictive as reported on here and elsewhere.

If you can possibly help it then I would try to find a non-drug way of dealing with your anxiety - as Connolly and CLKD suggest - mindfulness, relaxation, breathing and all sorts of strategies and techniques and/or talking therapies.

I realise that some women need and use it, but I am sure it is too often prescribed (as are all ADs) by doctors - as a society we are drugged and over-medicated and encouraged to be so by the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry!

I hope you manage to find a way through this! Why not start a thread (?in private lives) specifically about you and your anxiety - when do you get it, what triggers it, what does it stop you from doing, how does it make you feel etc and see if you can talk yourself through to a solution with a little help from members on here?

Hurdity x

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

Thank you all for your comments on this subject.

I think we all worry about adding more medication but I suppose sometimes needs must. I also think that those of us who are post meno and using any sort of  HRT  are medicating anyway so it isn't much of a leap to add something else.

All good food for thought ladies!

Take care all.

K.

[CLKD]

I have used every experience that I mention since an early age.  Diazepam and other as necessary drugs saved my Life.  Without them I wouldn't be here.  People who haven't taken such medications should stop giving out warnings - it is similar to those given out about perceived dangers of HRT  .  Why another thread  we obviously aren't on dial up these days. 

I tried drug-free methods.  They simply didn't work for me.  Hence my reply - the question was 'any experience' after all.  I have years of experience, not a Club I wanted to join  but the genetic as well as dysfunctional family element meant that I am pre-disposed. Apparently.   

[periwinkle68]

I had an awful time coming off of the anti-anxiety med Alprazolam (Xanax).  Although in my case, the doctor prescribed a super high dose to start with and my body became completely dependent on that drug within a month.  I took it for 2 months and it then took me 8 months to taper off of it because the withdrawals were so bad.  However, as I neared the end of the Xanax withdrawal, my doctor added a small dose of Diazepam to get me through the last of the Xanax withdrawals. The Diazepam lasted longer in my system than Xanax so it helped me get through the final steps of getting off Xanax.  Then I slowly stopped using the Diazepam daily and got to the point where I finally didn't need it at all.  However, all that changed last year when my anxiety returned as part of perimenopause, so now I have a supply of the Diazepam on hand at the house and take it if I ever start feeling really bad anxiety.  I refuse to take it daily because I'm so scared of my body becoming dependent on a benzodiazepine again, but if I take it only a couple time a month when the anxiety is really bad, it seems to help.  Everyone is different and their bodies react differently to these drugs.  I know a lot of people that take these anxiety meds daily and are completely fine.  Others like me, have a hard time because my body wants more and more of it and becomes completely dependent on it which in the end makes me sicker than not taking it. It's really an individual thing on how the body will react to it. 

[CLKD]

My problem with stopping an anti-depressant was fear of not being able to stop.  I was given a tapering dose and side-effects lasted about 2 days and once I realised that they didn't go on any longer I coped.  I was given a different tapering dose every 4th day for 3 days ...... it took 9 weeks.

Clear as mud?  It was physical: nausea, light headiness, fear that I would have to re-start them ........ so I laid on the settee for the 1st week until the realisation reassured me that after 2 days, I didn't feel any worse, nor did I need to re-start the drug.  Each of us is different in how our bodies react. 

[racjen]

I have experience of taking lots of different anti-anxiety meds and my advice would be: avoid diazepam and any other benzodiazepenes like the plague (the one beginning with L that CKLD is talking about is Lorazepam, which is stronger and more addictive than diazepam). They are highly addictive drugs, yes they work to begin with but you quickly build up a tolerance and then they are hell to come off, withdrawal symptoms tend to include worse anxiety than the initial problem, depression, all sorts of physical symptoms (a doctor said to me the other day that they are worse to come off than heroin)....Sorry CKLD but whatever you say, you are unusual - most people don't manage to use benzos in such a controlled way over years, I suspect that because your anxiety is from a different source ie lifelong and not menopausal, your experience isn't really relevant here. I'm also a bit unusual in that I can't tolerate anti-depressants or beta-blockers, but if you really are experiencing unbearable anxiety (and i know the feeling, that's why I'm now struggling to come off diazepam after 9 months use) you'd be better off trying either of them or pregabalin, which is similar to ADs but is specifically anti-anxiety. If you hit it lucky and find one that works for you it could make all the difference, but don't expect miracles - for some of us they just don't work.

[jillydoll]

Hi Kathleen,

When I was in my late 30s early 40s, I tried Sertraline, and another one, can't remember it's name,
And although it took the anxiety away, I so hated taking them.
Then one day I wasn't very well [i had a bad reaction to ‘garnier' body lotion) and I needed to be sick
so ran upstairs to the toilet, but wasn't sick, I passed out in the bathroom, zonked my head off the
raidiator and fell down at the side of the toilet, completely out for the count.
My son woke me shouting ‘mom, ‘mom', then when I came round , which was only a couple minutes
later, he was in the phone to the ambulance. By the time they got to me, I was sitting up right, still
felt unwell obviously, but ok.
They said my blood pressure had dropped and that's what made me pass out, they wanted to take
me in because I'd had a head injury (who put that bloody stupid raidiator there?) lol
But I said no, I was ok, which they protested about, but I got my way, lol
They said it was probably the sertraline that had done it, because AD can do that.
I didn't go to the doctor about it, I just started weaning myself off them , it scared me to death.
This is why I WONT go back on AD, they scare me .

And although my anxiety is still there occasionally, I now know it's hormonal, because when I've
got the dosage right of my hrt, it completely goes away....
Which incidentally, is playing up at the moment again,.......I'm working on that one......
That's my experience on ADs..........

Jd x

Also forgot to add, just after I was post meno, before I went onto hrt, my anxiety was through the roof
So doctor gave me ‘prozac', I was at my wits end, thought ok, I'd give it a go, after only a few days
on it, I started to feel ill in the middle of the night, like I was about to pass out , over and over again, all I could do was to lie down, I felt better then. So I stopped them, immediately.
It took about a week for that feeling to go, it came over me like a wave, my body just wanted to pass out, all the time, I stayed on a two seater settee for about a week, too scared to move, only going to the bathroom, as the week progressed it got less and less until I was back to normal.
I didn't go to the doctor, (I'm not keen....lol) I just knew it was those pills... hence why I won't touch them ever again.......

[CLKD]

Of course some people become addicted.  But I and many others that I am in touch with World Wide, have had no problems.  If a GP is on the ball and explains any dangers regarding medication and sees patients on a regular basis, most prescriptions can be managed.  I have an addictive personality as well as being obsessive. 

racjen - I find 2 of your comments offensive: please do not use 'you' when you mean yourself and particularly your statement:your experience isn't really relevant here: - nothing posted here by anyone is irrelevant.

It is up to reader to take what is suggested and see whether it applies to them or not.

[Peripurple]

hi Kathleen, I have not only personally suffered with anxiety for 14 years but also worked in the mental health sector for 16 years.  Diazepam if used correctly is so good just to try and break the cycle or even to get a few hours sleep, and can also help your mind to calm when it is particularly irrational so you can think straight.  Yes it is highly addictive nut it is down to the individual to understand whether they can manage that or another, also a good GP would monitor very closely.  I only use diazepam when I am absolutely bouncing off the walls.

citalopram was helpful to me in the past but after a time lost its efficacy and I found the side effects of coming off it horrible. Pregabalin is excellent for anxiety, however again it slowed my mind down and at times I found my word finding quite difficult.  There are pros and cons to all theses medications, and unfortunately it is often trial and error.  Medication most certainly has a place for anxiety, and sometimes it just provides that breathing space to then start other therapies, mindfulness etc.  I have now Been of anti-anxiety medication for 3 years, and just keep a small amount of diazepam to hand for when I really need it.  I have never been tempted to misuse it, all these medications served a purpose when I needed them most. 

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

Thank you all for your replies.

Yet again it seems that we have to suffer trial and error!

 I've been doing a bit of research and I looked up the side effects of an AD called Efexor XL 150 mg ( Venlafaxine). A GP prescribed this for me a few months ago and I see that some possible side effects are nausea, nervousness and sweating ( including night sweats). It's a bit dismal that some people  will have the exact same symptoms that they are trying to treat but as side effects, and how would you know which is which? This has made me wonder if anti anxiety meds would be a better bet if used sensibly.

Emmapurple - I'm pleased to learn that you no  longer need regular meds, can I ask if you find alternatives like mindfulness effective?

Thanks again for your input ladies, very interesting and much appreciated.

Take care.

K.